Moments in Time
by Pen and Paper71
Summary: Responses to the Gen portion of emblanon Kink Meme.
1. Brotherly Bonding

A/N- The prompt asked for family fluff based around Gordin and Ryan from FE3. I hope that you enjoy this and please let me know what you think.

"Okay, pull the arrow back a little further," Gordin instructed, frowning slightly as he watched his younger brother struggling with the bow in his hands.

"L-like this," Ryan's voice sounded strained. He yelped as his hand slipped and the arrow released prematurely. Fortunately, it did not have very much power behind it and so it did not go very far.

Besides, it was the possibility for mistakes like this one that had convinced Gordin that they should start off practicing away from other people. He could remember well how difficult a bow could be to master, but a good teacher was supposed to make sure to take such things into consideration or so Mister Jeorge had always told him. So, when his brother had approached him about wanting to learn how to use a bow, he'd put a lot of careful consideration into planning out their training sessions.

Ryan looked distraught as he gazed where the arrow had landed. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Gordin! I didn't mean..."

"It's fine, Ryan," Gordin interrupted quickly, trying to comfort his brother. "This isn't an easy thing to learn. I think that everyone's made that mistake before."

Ryan looked up at him, his eyes wide. "Even... you?"

"When I was learning how to shoot, definitely. You're doing really well, Ryan. Really."

Ryan's face brightened at his brother's praise. "Can we try again then? I want to be able to shoot as well as you do!"

Gordin smiled, amused by his brother's enthusiasm. He wasn't sure where this desire to fire a bow had come from, considering that Ryan had never shown much interest in archery before the war, but he was happy that his brother generally seemed to enjoy their training sessions.

"Can I see that bow first?" Gordin asked, taking the bow from his brother after Ryan nodded. "I'm wondering if this bow is too big for you. It was the smallest that I could find in the armory, but you still seem to be having a lot of trouble with it. I might need to see if I can pull together enough money to get one custom made for you, although I'm kind of concerned that, with the way you're growing, you'd outgrow it before it was even finished."

"I like this bow though. This is the type that I'd have to use when I become an Altean knight like you, right?" Ryan asked.

"Well, I doubt that anyone would mind if you used your own bow," Gordin told him.

"Until it broke and then what would I do? I need to be able to shoot all sorts of bows," Ryan said stubbornly, crossing his arms. "I'll just need to get stronger."

Gordin nodded and smiled at him approvingly, setting a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "You've set a hard task on front of yourself, little brother, but if that's what you want then I'll do everything in your power to help." He handed the bow back to Ryan and pointed at the target in the distance. "Focus on aiming at that target. Don't fire it yet. I want to work on your grip on the bow first and then your stance."

And so the pair worked for the next hour on a little bit of everything. When Gordin was satisfied, they moved into a better range for the target and Gordin instructed Ryan to try hitting it. It took quite a few tries before Ryan really started to get used to the feel of releasing the arrow, but the more arrows that he shot, the more he improved. Finally, much to the brothers' excitement, one of the arrows finally hit the target quite near the center. Not wanting to push their luck, Gordin decided that would be a good note to end their session on that day.

Ryan glowed under his brother's praise, holding the bow close to his chest.

"Not bad. Not bad at all," a familiar voice said from behind the brothers. Gordin and Ryan turned around to see Cain standing behind them. An impatient whinny came from the red knight's warhorse, who was standing next to the knight, causing Cain to stroke the horse's neck, who calmed down quickly at his rider's touch.

Ryan jumped in surprise and tried to put together a respectful salute, but, although his hand did end up on his head, its execution left something to be desired. "Sir Cain, what... what can I do for you, sir?"

Gordin just smiled at the other knight. "Hi, Cain. Back from patrol?"

"Correct," Cain responded to Gordin with a nod and a fond smile. Turning his attention to Ryan, he answered the boy's question next. "I don't need anything. I was just passing by and I happened across you too, so I stopped for a moment to watch. If what I just is any example of your skill, then you're going to be quite the archer."

Ryan held his head up proudly, smiling happily. "Thank you, sir. I'm hoping to be able to join the Altean knights someday. Like my brother."

Cain nodded, his smile widening as his eyes darted between the brothers. "I'm sure that'll happen if you keep up the hard work. I look forward to the day that you come to join us officially." With that he bid them farewell, mounted his horse, and rode off in the direction of the castle.

"Let's head back then," Gordin told his brother. "That is more then enough for one day."

When they reached the castle again, they stumbled across two more familiar faces belonging to Gordin's friends Norne and Draug, who had been standing there talking. The pair glanced at the brothers curiously as they approached.

"What were you two up to?" Draug asked as he turned to face them, although, given the knowing smile on the armor knight's face, Gordin suspected that his old friend had already figured out the answer to that question.

"We were just doing a bit of archery practice," Gordin told them.

"That's real sweet of ya," Norne smiled, putting her hand on his arm. "Maybe the three of us should practice together one day."

Gordin felt his cheeks redden a bit due to his friends' attention. "Um... Yeah. Definitely. I'd really like that," he told her. "I should probably get Ryan home now though. He's been working really hard."

"I'm still..." Ryan started to protest before his brother shot him a look indicating that he shouldn't continue that sentence. "Actually, yeah. I'm really tired."

"Of course. I apologize for keeping you then," Draug told the brothers, smiling kindly at them. "Good bye."

"I'm sorry too. See ya later," Norne added.

With that Gordin and Ryan headed for home, with Gordin wondering in amusement how long it would be before the entire castle knew about their training sessions. Secrets didn't tend to last long within the castle walls.


	2. First Kiss

A/N- The prompt asked for a fic in which young Merric and young Elice were each others first kiss. I actually don't care for this pairing, but I tried to set that aside while writing this. I hope that the character interactions come off well and that the fic is enjoyable. Please let me know what you think.

Merric was huddled between a pair of book shelves in the royal library with a book gripped tightly in his hands as he studied the pages intently. He was so entranced by the subject matter that he didn't notice the sound of the door opening or the sound of someone coming in his direction. It wasn't until a shadow was cast across the pages of his book that he finally realized that someone else was in the room with him. As he looked up to see who stood before him, he was startled to see that it was Princess Elice.

"Merric?" Elice asked, sounding surprised herself. "What are you doing here?"

Merric hurried to his feet instantly, pulling the book to his chest. "I was just reading. Prince Marth said that it would be okay if I explored a bit. There are some incredible texts here about magic and..." The aspiring mage voice trailed off under Elice's gentle gaze, fidgeting awkwardly. "I will leave though if you need me to, Princess."

"Oh, no. There is no reason for that," Elice smiled. "These books were meant to be read. I am sorry to bother. I... I'll only be a moment and then I'll leave."

There was something odd about Elice's voice, but Merric couldn't seem to put his finger on the cause. Looking more closely at her face, Merric noticed that her eyes were redder than normal. Worry ran through him. Was something wrong? Was she sick? Had she been hurt?

Chewing on his lip nervously, he tried to figure out the best way to broach the topic, but was saved the trouble when Elice spoke again. "Have you seen a gold ring anywhere around here?"

Merric paused for a moment before answering, thrown for a moment by the question. "No, I'm sorry."

Elice's frowned as she whispered, "Oh." She fell silent as her eyes wandered around the room as though the object that she sought would appear if she simply looked hard enough. "I see. Thank you. If you don't mind, Merric, I will look for another moment and then I'll leave you alone. I don't want to interrupt your studies."

"Think nothing of it, Princess," Merric told Elice with a reassuring smile which he used to cover his own unease at seeing her so unhappy. "Do you need some help? I'll bet we could find it if we worked together."

"I don't want to bother..." she started to say before he interrupted her to assure her that it was no bother at all.

Merric felt his face redden a bit as Elice smiled gratefully at him. "S-so, can you g-give me a bet-ter idea of w-what we're looking f-for then?" he asked, unable to keep his voice from shaking some as he fought to focus his mind on something besides the way Elice was looking at him, hoping that the color on his cheeks would fade if he had something else to occupy his mind.

"It's just a simple, thin gold band, but it is important to me. It was a gift from my mother. She will be so distressed if she discovers that I've lost it." Elice told him, as she walked towards where he had been sitting. "The last time I saw it, I was looking at books in this area. That was why I came over here."

Merric nodded. "Let's get to work then."

The pair searched the area thoroughly, checking every inch for the missing ring, but they had no luck. Elice moved on to the next pair of shelves, but Merric stayed behind to make sure that they had not missed the ring.

A strange glint on the floor suddenly caught his eye and he instantly dropped to the ground to get a better look, smiling when he saw what had caused the odd glint. A small gold ring sat on the ground in front of him.

"Princess Elice!" Merric called loudly, jumping to his feet with the ring wrapped tightly between his fingers. "Oh, Princess, please come here! I found it!"

Elice came racing around the corner, her eyes alight. "Really?"

Merric proudly held out to the ring to Elice, who took it from him and slipped it onto her finger. "Oh, Merric. Thank you so much. You don't know what this means to me."

Impulsively, Elice threw her arms around Merric and lightly touched her lips to his. Although he was initially surprised, he leaned into the kiss and was disappointed when she pulled away.

Elice's cheeks were bright red as she pulled away, which matched the current color of Merric's face quite nicely. "I- I'm sorry. I don't know where that came from. Merric... I..."

"Don't worry, Princess," Merric managed to say with a surprising amount of composure, considering that he didn't feel composed at all. "I'm just glad that you are happy."

Elice smiled. "Thank you, Merric, for everything. I should go, but I hope that I will see you again soon."

"Count on it!" Merric replied, unable to stop smiling.

With that, Elice walked away, pausing for a moment at the door to glance back at Merric one last time before closing the door behind her.


	3. Promise Kept

A/N- The requester asked for a fic in which Lugh dies during the war and Ray returns to keep the promise that he made to his brother in their A support conversation. ""If... If I don't make it through this war, promise me you'll pick up the little ones at the Elimine Church." There are also two lines in this that I took directly from their supports (Both from Ray's side of their A support), so I hope that it's okay. I just thought that it better with the lines then without. I hope that you enjoy this. Any feedback is appreciated.

As Ray approached his destination, he could feel his mouth go dry. The druid hesitated for a moment before knocking as he found himself in standing in front of the church's large doors. This was harder then it should have been, but he had to do this. He'd promised.

Ray could feel tears build in his eyes as his brother's voice came to him, making him swear to go back for the orphans at the church should something happen to him, although he quickly bit them back. It... it wasn't supposed to be like this. His brother... why?

It was a question with no answer.

"Don't say that. We'll both survive." He could remember the words that he'd spoken to his brother in response to his request as though they had only spoken yesterday. "I won't let you die. You're my brother, my only brother."

The memory cut like a knife through him and Ray, who had truly believed that the walls that he'd set up around his heart would keep this kind of pain at bay, suddenly found that he couldn't breathe.

"Lugh... Oh, Lugh," Ray thought, squeezing his eyes shut. "I've come back for them. I won't forget my promise."

Ray finally managed to regain his control over himself after choking back a sob and knocked on the door. A cleric answered after another second and smiled at him.

"How may I help you, sir?"

"There were some children who were dropped off here during the war because the orphanage that they lived at had been destroyed," Ray told her before pausing awkwardly, unsure about how best to approach this situation.

"Yes, I know them well," the woman responded with a gentle smile. "What of them?"

"I came to help them," Ray told her, surprised at how steady his voice was especially considering how torn up he truly felt. But he needed to be steady if he was going to accomplish his task. He'd promised his brother that he would care for the little ones that had been left behind and they needed him now more then ever.

_How will I ever explain to them what happened to Lugh?_

He shoved that thought to the back of his mind as quickly as he could manage before he lost what composure he had. Ray knew that he'd just have to find a way, but now was not the time for this line of thought. He had to be strong for the little ones... and for Lugh.

"The children?" the cleric asked with surprise. "May I ask who you are?"

"I'm Ray. I don't know if you ever met him, but the boy who dropped them off here is my brother. I knew them at the orphanage." Ray paused to take a deep breath before continuing. "For now, may I just see them?"

"I see no problem with that," the cleric told him with a smile and a nod before she turned to lead him further into the church.

_I've come back, Lugh. I'll take care of the little ones like you wanted. Just watch._


End file.
